SUBSCRIBE:

Reporters harassed and threatened by police during demonstration

Share

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 2 December 2008, journalist Andrés Astudillo and photographer Rafael Salazar, of the "El Tiempo" newspaper, were harassed and threatened by three policemen who noticed that the reporters had photographed them hitting a group of demonstrators during a violent protest at a university in the State of Anzoátegui, northwestern Venezuela.

The policemen seized Salazar's camera and took out its memory card. They then tried to force the reporters to leave the area by firing bullets into the air. Astudillo and Salazar were unable to identify the policemen.

The reporters refused to leave the university and informed the commander of the police unit, Roberth Aranguren, of what had happened. The policemen then returned Salazar's camera but kept the memory card.

Aranguren told IPYS that the incident was the product of a misunderstanding and that the policemen were trying to protect the reporters.

More from Venezuela

Along with eroding civil and political freedoms, President Nicolas Maduro’s declaration of a State of Exception and Economic Emergency, extended in May 2017, dictated “strict regulations” to prevent “destabilization campaigns” on the internet

Venezuela’s economic crisis continued to affect the media industry, leaving dozens of publications in chronic danger of closure due to the difficulty of meeting basic operational costs. Many outlets also faced robberies, vandalism, and hackings.

The government refused to recognize a decision by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) ordering the reinstatement of the terrestrial broadcast license of television station Radio Caracas Television (RCTV), which was taken off the air in 2007 after a highly politicized campaign against the channel by then president Hugo Chávez.

This report documents 45 cases from Caracas and three states, involving more than 150 victims, in which security forces have abused the rights of protesters and other people in the vicinity of demonstrations.

IFEX publishes original and member-produced free expression news and reports. Some member content has been edited by IFEX. We invite you to contact [email protected] to request permission to reproduce or republish in whole or in part content from this site.